next step

I got a phone call from St. College Town in the Diocese of Wine Region late yesterday afternoon. They want to set up a phone interview. The woman apologized for taking so long to get back to me, but there was a personnel issue in the committee that set them behind by about a week, but now they're back on track. Yay, the next step.

I spent some time talking with a friend, who lived and worked in that diocese not long ago, to get an idea of the culture of the place. He kept using words like conservative, Dutch Reform, militia, and reactionary.

*gulp* Is it getting hot in here???

He said it was beautiful country, with nearby woodlands, and all that - which I like. It's a college town, which means broad-minded thinkers, perhaps progressive, and decent coffee shops. I went to the college's web site. The theatre department is only a minor, but it has a good repertoire. There's a small symphony, art galleries, and other such cultural things I also like. It looks like it might be akin to Blacksburg, VA, home of Virginia Tech: in the middle of nowhere, and if it weren't for the college, the town wouldn't exist. One might say it's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there. I've lived in places like that before. My friend also mentioned the weather patterns. If I tell you what those are, it'll give the location away, and so much for the creative parish names! Suffice it to say, I've lived with those particular weather patters before too.

There are some pretty good goods at play here. But the impression my friend gave me makes me nervous about bringing my family there. I remember driving to the interview with the deployment officer and scanning the local radio stations to hear what the people are listening to. There's Christian and Country. *Ugh* If I'm called there, I'm gonna need satellite radio. It's not like I'd be showing up unannounced. I'll have a ready-made community there waiting for me. But still... I don't want to put my family in harms way. K and I talked about this last night. She said wait and see. If I get a face-to-face interview I'll be able to walk around and get a feel for the place myself.

I know I shouldn't make judgments based on someone else's opinions. After I met with the deployment officer I visited a friend in another diocese who told me of the misogynist culture of his small town. Between Country-and-Christian, and the He-Man-Women-Haters-Club, maybe my imagination went into overdrive.

I have to say, I did have an interesting experience in Diocese of Wine Country. I had forgotten about the time zone changes and miscalculated my arrival time by one hour. I had planned to drive around and see the area before going to the meeting. Don't know what made me look at the clock on my cell phone - which Big Brother adjusts for me when I travel. I had three minutes to get to my meeting! I just happened to be right around the corner. I made it on time. I really think the Holy Spirit is at work here. Things like that have happened to me before and have always worked out in my favour. I'm not going to let my imagination get the better of me here. I'll keep going with St. College Town.

Now... how the heck do I do a phone interview?!

first contact

St. Lakeside Parish, in the Diocese of Pine Tree, has sent me a letter - by snail mail of all things! - asking me to answer three questions. It was a very nice letter. The committee at this parish seemed excited about getting in touch with me. It says something about the place that they used the USPS to write to me rather than electronically.

I won!

I just won my first bidding war on ebay. With 29 seconds left to bid, I snatched me a fine leather briefcase from someone who apparently wanted it as much as I. It was an exciting last 5 minutes and 39 seconds. Was the other bidder watching? Did he or she have a higher maximum bid that I didn't know about? Would I find out too late? It was tense and exciting. Roz and I were in a state as we watched the clock tick by with every refresh of the screen. Do I bid now? No, wait. Wait for it... wait for it... Now!

Voila!
































It's a durable leather valise with a padded shoulder strap. The dimensions (16.5 x 13 x 6.5) will fit not only my laptop, but also several books. A handsome satchel, it appears to have scuffs in all the right places, and is sure to impress with its classy, yet seasoned look. Can't hardly wait 'till it gets here.

My trusty backpack has given me its best years of loyal service, and has earned whatever the backpack equivalent is of a graduate degree. I salute it, even as I see daylight through the bottom of it.

The timing of this is really good. I can't go around with a backpack as I have been - with apologies to my chiropractor. I'll have interviews and impressions to make soon (hopefully) as a professional, and showing up looking like the first day of school is not the impression I want to make. This bag says, "I know what I'm doing. I'm confident, yet relaxed. I'm durable, yet lovable." It's Indiana Jones without having to wear that hat.

what it's all about

This is my kind of humor.

"With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of

a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week.

Larry LaPrise, the man that wrote "The Hokie Pokey" died peacefully at the age of 93.

The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in.

And then the trouble started."

I just had to reprint this. I'm a Virginia Tech alumna. The Hokey Pokey is the unofficial fight song, (and the name of the campus police lock-up). After all that, how can I help myself?

(... hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, and you shake it all about...)

more developments

Last night someone from St. Tropical Island e-mailed me for information. A position will be opening up there for which I may be a good match. This morning the chair of the search committee from one of the parishes in the Diocese of Wine Region told me to expect contact soon.

You're doing a good job gentle readers. Keep praying.

seeing Jesus through tears

I preached today. One of the outreach ministries at St. Matthew's is our affiliation with The Night Ministry in Chicago. They are a very busy ecumenical organization that serves the homeless in the city. Our next outing with TNM is this Tuesday, and I wanted to highlight that in the sermon. I was going for a "missional preaching" style - one that highlights our responsibility to mission in the world. It was one of those sermons that wrote itself. People generally like my content and delivery, though I typically have my misgivings about it until I leave the pulpit. Today I knew it was going to be good - but I didn't know just how good. I talked about bumping into Jesus on the streets, and what happens when Jesus bumps into people. A simple, direct, and to-the-point sermon.

After the 8:00 service a woman came up to me and shared her story of when she met Jesus on a trip to another city. It was a riveting story, and she wept as she told it. Tears of joy - profound, divine joy. After the 10:30 service someone else came up to me and said she quietly wept to herself during the sermon. It was exactly what she needed to hear. Another person didn't really speak, but shook my hand solidly, and I could see in his eyes something happened for him.

Wow. I wasn't going for tears - I would never. That's way to manipulative. It just kinda happened. I feel privileged and humbled at the same time that people would share these moments with me. There are such important stories out there that really need to be spoken aloud. I love that todays sermon created a space for that to happen. What more can I say? Just wow.

I preach again this Wednesday at Seabury. Sure would be nice if this next sermon writes itself too.

Diocese of Wine Region*

I just got back from a meeting with the deployment officer at what we'll call the "Diocese of Wine Region" where there are two, possibly three, parishes for which I am being considered. It was a very good meeting. One of the parishes - we'll call this one St. Labyrinth - has my name, and I think only one other. The D.O. said "when you get here - I mean, if you're called to a parish - we may have to ordain you a little earlier that you will be in Chicago. Will that be okay?"


Let me just leave a moment of silence here while my heart and soul do backflips...






... "Yes, that would be okay." I calmly replied.

On the way to the diocesan offices I noticed a lot of billboards advertising local wine cellars. On the way back out there were even more. I happen to enjoy wine, and local flavours especially. Thus, the name I'm giving this diocese.

I brought two information packets about myself that I created for this job search process. One has this D.O.'s information in the cover letter salutation, the other is generic, addressed to Dear Search Committee. I said the D.O. could give the second one away as she saw fit. The D.O. enthusiastically said she'd give it to everyone she met. That was nice to hear.

Today was a good day.

*I kinda like making up pseudonyms for all these places I'm visiting. I think I like them better than the real place names.

St. Assistant's

Today I went to a different parish to worship: one to which I have applied for an assistant position. We'll call this parish "Saint Assistant of-the-Trendy-Suburb."

I got to the town with plenty of time to drive around and see the sights, and take in a cuppa at the local Caribou Coffee. I like the downtown area. Lots of locally owned shops on both sides of the street are intermingled with a couple bigger chains (the coffee shops). There's a Metra station (commuter rail) smack dab in the middle of town, which means easy access to the city at a reasonable walking distance from the church.

The parishioners were very welcoming and happy to share their thoughts about the place. One woman invited me to sit next to her during the service - in the front row. I wasn't planning to hide out, but she customarily sits in the least looked at row from the pulpit, so I did too. She was a wealth of information about the community of the parish as well as the town community, and so easy to get information out of. (I know rapid information gathering doesn't come easily to everybody, but I just love that gift I've been given.) She introduced me to several other people, who were also quite forthcoming.

Worship is in a very well-lit sanctuary, very clean. I couldn't tell by looking at it how old the place is. Good music. Very talented music director and choir. A very welcoming experience for me on the pew side of the rail. At the end of the service my new friend said she wanted to introduce me to the rector. He recognized me right away from various diocesan things we've both been to, though we've never formally met. I said I was there to experience the community from a parishioner point of view (I didn't tell anyone there I was coming). I asked if I could leave him a small packet of information. He said he would be in touch next week.

I have been skeptical about taking an assistant/associate position. In the theatre I've found that every time I've been the assistant, I end up becoming the go-to person (read: the better leader). I don't have a lot of experience being an assistant to a good leader. When I finally decided to take positions as charge painter or master painter, I really began to grow in my skills and competencies as a leader. I like that kind of growth: being the person who has to make the decisions, has to have a handle on everything that's going on, accountability, and of course responsibility. I find myself gravitating to rector positions at smaller parishes that offer that spectrum of opportunity. After this morning's experience, I think I'd be okay at a place like St. Assistant.

In the cover letter of the info packet I left for the rector, I said I'd be in touch later this week. I'm looking forward to a conversation.

just a note to say...

Over the holidays, K. found an article in a magazine that she thought I might be interested in reading. She often does this, and I find stray articles, amputated from their spines, adrift on my desk (holy mixed metaphor Batman!). ((Heh, heh.)) Anyhoo, the most recent article, from Real Simple, December 2007, had to do with note writing. The front picture showed a half-written note that said, "I really, really want to write you this note. I can't think of what to say..." The article went on to give examples of really good notes (and precisely what parts of them make them really good) for a few different occasions - including late. This was perfect.

I love going into paper stores and finding unusual papers. As you know I've been working on my calligraphy. I appreciate the art of handwriting. But like the sorry writer of the cover image for that magazine article, I can never think what to say. The article cited a few sources. I went to my local book store and bought one of them. What a help! It gives a lot of extra information that I already know: like taking information from our conversation and repeating it back, a la active listening. It also gives examples of starting and ending a short note. Short is the operative word here - short, sweet, and to the point, without being insincere. It's a note, not thesis, expressing a genuine sentiment. How to start, how to stop, and how to keep it brief. What a huge help.

Several rector friends have shared with me that they write 20+ notes to parishioners per week. I think this is a very good idea, and one that I plan to use, now that I'm armed with a Miss Manners-esque manual of style. I've already started practicing. In my world view, it's not just the note that sends the message, but the medium as well. Who would write a condolence on a floral print tablet?! Perish the thought! I could get matching envelopes too. Oh, this calls for a trip to my local stationer. My life just got a little easier - and prettier (if that's possible) ((heh heh, just kidding)).

is this okay...?

I'm not sure about this one: a longtime parishioner has asked me to help her prepare her funeral service. As I was packing up to leave I commented that the briefcase I was using wasn't very good. It's a computer case - only. There's not room for the laptop and books, so one or the other has to stay home. I said there was a great case that I have my eye on that would be just right. Before I finished describing it, she insisted on purchasing it for me as a thank you for helping her with the funeral. Now... I don't plan to "charge" my parishioners for services like funeral planning. She's an older woman obviously, and I assume on some kind of pension, or social security, or some other limited income. The bag I was describing is pretty pricey - I think I saw it in SkyMall on one of my recent flights. I don't feel like it's appropriate to accept such a gift, but she really is insistent. Just working through a funeral service with her is a gift to me. This is my first time doing this, and she's very patient - I think she has no idea this is my first time planning an actual funeral. Do clergy typically get these kind of gift offers? Do y'all accept them? I'd hate to do anything untoward.

double-update

As I said last time, there's much I want to tell you - thus the "double-update."

First: I have gotten a confirmation on my ordination date. Saturday June 7th, 11:00am. It would be great if you both could make it. I'll give more details to you as I get them. I'd like to get the other people I know who will be ordained with me to start thinking about the planing, but they're all tied up with GOEs this week. Remember them? *shudder* Glad I don't have to do them again. Anyhoo, we'll get the planning under way before too long. Until then: yay! ordination date!

Second: "St. Suburban Parish" has asked me to answer some questions as part of the first stage in their interview process. I like this place. It's a good community with a pretty building in a nice location. I'd be very happy there. The deployment officer in another diocese is sending my name along to "St. Lakeside Parish." That position is half-time with a solid opportunity to grow it to a full-time position. Their geographic location is ripe for good growth under the right leadership. However, I know the culture of the area, and the possibility for the community to dig their heels in at the prospect of growth is a real hazard. But, I like the challenge it offers, so I'm keeping my hand in that game for the time being.

Haven't heard from any of the other places I've contacted yet. I'd feel better with a few more invitations to interview. I realize it's early, but still... When have you ever known me to not have things done ahead of time? Why can't everybody be like that? Ah well, the Spirit moves as she pleases, and I'm trusting.

I like it when the update entries are good news.

trip pix

Oh there's so much to tell you about. But before I do, I wanted to share some pictures of my trip.






















For those of you who are fans of the NPR program Car Talk, you may want to click on this picture and view the third floor window.























This is also in Hahvid Squayah, just randomly placed. No idea what it is. Anyone?























I'm not much inclined for the hard stuff, but this was like liquid velvet. Oh my.


















Snow on the dunes.
























Look at that sky. See all the lines in the clouds? Cool.























This is that great pub in the Olde Port I told you about. Still as good as it was last time.


















It's just the coziest place in all get-out.


















Pre-dawn.


















Dawn.
























Washed up lobster trap. Can you see it? I almost missed it myself. Some critters got lucky this day.

















Snow stripe.

























































On the drive home we passed a splash of colour in an otherwise dreary gray day.

















What it's all about: local beeah and clam chowda.

almost done

K and I leave tomorrow. We managed to fit quite a lot into a short trip. I've got lots of pictures - sunrise on the coast of Maine are my favourites. I'll get them up as soon as I can. Also, I've got news on the job hunt front. More on that later - big sister wants me to stop typing so she can hear a movie. Ciao for now.